Tote Repair (Where's the repair?)
I spotted this Bed Rock 604. Another buyer had his hand on it. I had overheard that he said that he is a user not a collector. 15 minutes later, I found the same 604 sitting on the table along with other tools. Feeling sorry for it, I decided to give it a new home. It was a little pricy for an old tool ($50.00) but it was in decent shape. Looks like it does require some clean up. The tote in particular is in need of repair or replacement, but overall the plane looks like it is in pretty good shape. I think it is a good buy though it is definitely not gloat status.
I thought there might be some interest in repair the totes. LJ already had many blogs on refurbishing hand planes, so I decided not to mess with it. I thought I might able to share my experience with you on repair totes. I know there are tote repair blogs too. Perhaps I could pick up a few suggestions from you all. It just seems that it gets harder and harder to find these replacement handles and they are getting kind of pricy. Often, a plane find includes a broken handle or a missing tote. I am interested in repairing my 604 tote. I would like have the repair not to be noticeable as much as possible.
After removing the handle off the plane, it was evident that it was not a completely a clean break. In addition to the two main halves, there was one small chip. Without it, I'll have to patch the hole after the glue up, so I carefully save the small chip for glue up of the handles. Even with the chip in replace, looks like there will be some pin head size holes will need to patch. To keep the repair from being noticeable could be a challenge.
Below is couple photos of a tote that I have repair for a #5 Bailey. Can you see where the repair is at?
We'll see how it goes. If all things failed, I'll just post fuzzy photos of the tote. The repair will definitely will not be noticeable then. So that is the backup plan. Wish me luck.
I spotted this Bed Rock 604. Another buyer had his hand on it. I had overheard that he said that he is a user not a collector. 15 minutes later, I found the same 604 sitting on the table along with other tools. Feeling sorry for it, I decided to give it a new home. It was a little pricy for an old tool ($50.00) but it was in decent shape. Looks like it does require some clean up. The tote in particular is in need of repair or replacement, but overall the plane looks like it is in pretty good shape. I think it is a good buy though it is definitely not gloat status.
I thought there might be some interest in repair the totes. LJ already had many blogs on refurbishing hand planes, so I decided not to mess with it. I thought I might able to share my experience with you on repair totes. I know there are tote repair blogs too. Perhaps I could pick up a few suggestions from you all. It just seems that it gets harder and harder to find these replacement handles and they are getting kind of pricy. Often, a plane find includes a broken handle or a missing tote. I am interested in repairing my 604 tote. I would like have the repair not to be noticeable as much as possible.
After removing the handle off the plane, it was evident that it was not a completely a clean break. In addition to the two main halves, there was one small chip. Without it, I'll have to patch the hole after the glue up, so I carefully save the small chip for glue up of the handles. Even with the chip in replace, looks like there will be some pin head size holes will need to patch. To keep the repair from being noticeable could be a challenge.
Below is couple photos of a tote that I have repair for a #5 Bailey. Can you see where the repair is at?
We'll see how it goes. If all things failed, I'll just post fuzzy photos of the tote. The repair will definitely will not be noticeable then. So that is the backup plan. Wish me luck.